SFTP (secure file transfer protocol) hosting allows businesses to send and receive files and data securely on the internet. With cybersecurity as the hot topic, we bring you the 8 best SFTP hosting providers to help you securely set up, manage and maintain file transfer servers. As more and more businesses are going online, it’s important to start building digital infrastructures for your business too. Our compilation of the 8 best SFTP hosting providers will help you choose your hosting provider.
Here Are the Top SFTP Hosting Providers
- HostArmada – Best SFTP Hosting Overall
- A2 Hosting – Fast SFTP Hosting
- Hostens – Affordable SFTP Hosting
- InterServer – Best Self-managed SFTP Hosting
- FastComet – Best SSD-Only SFTP Hosting
- Verpex Hosting – Best Worldwide SFTP Hosting
- HostGator – Best SFTP Hosting for Full Root Access
- Bluehost – Stable Pricing Plans For SFTP Hosting
The Best SFTP Hosting Providers of 2023 (Bought and Tested):
HostArmada is an excellent SFTP hosting provider that not only offers top-notch performance and security but also comes with great value for money. No matter which hosting plan you get from HostArmada; you’ll get feature-packed plans with many freebies included. Also, since all the provider’s services are cloud-based, you’ll get fast speeds and reliable performance.
- Overall Score: 5.0
- Pricing: 4.9
- Features: 5.0
- Performance: 5.0
- Support: 5.0
- User Friendly: 5.0
Pricing: Shared hosting is the cheapest web hosting service you can get from HostArmada. The entry-level shared hosting plan costs $2.59/month (on a monthly billing period) and includes one website, 15GB SSD, 2GB RAM, and 2 CPU Cores.
Features: You’ll get unlimited databases, unlimited email accounts, unlimited subdomains, malware scans & removals, WAF & IP Firewall, with free SSL, free website migration, free web server caches, free cPanel Control Panel, free daily backups, a free domain, Imunify360, SSH access, automatic daily backups, and more.
Performance: HostArmada uses RAID 10 SSD storage and top-notch hardware to provide fast loading speeds and reliable performance. It has a 99.9% uptime guarantee and data centers on three continents.
Support: You’ll get 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, and a ticketing system, along with a knowledgeable customer support team that will answer your messages within 10 minutes. In addition, you can access tutorials and guides via HostArmada’s Learning Center.
User Friendly: With HostArmada, you’ll get access to cPanel for free, a Softaculous 1-click installer that makes installing and managing apps super easy and fast, and you’ll be able to manage the DNS entries in your DNS zone via your dashboard.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Feature-rich plans that provide great value for money.
- All hosting services are cloud-based.
- 45-day money-back guarantee (except for the monthly plans).
Cons:
- Higher prices on renewal (but still affordable due to the wide range of features included).
With turbo boost technology, A2 Hosting’s servers are 20x faster than any other hosting provider’s servers. It offers both managed and unmanaged VPS servers capable of SFTP hosting with loads of features to optimize your server for speed and performance. A2 Hosting provides high-end security features to keep your data safe on the server. You can also get immediate support if you want any assistance in setting up and maintaining the servers.
- Overall Score: 4.8
- Features: 4.8
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendliness: 4.7
- Pricing: 5
- Reliability: 4.6
Features: A2Hosting has lots of useful features such as Administrative level instant SSH root access to the server, free Cloudflare CDN, free SSL certificates, Lightspeed cache plugin, object caching using Redis, free site migration, NVMe SSD Storage, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, APC/OPcache, free dedicated IPs, seamless upgrade of the server when needed, and more. All these features are essential for a high-performing server for your SFTP hosting.
Support: The support for users is handled by a dedicated team called Guru Crew. You can access the support 24/7/365 via phone call, email, or Live chat. There is also a ticket support system for any technical issues that you will encounter on the server. However, if you do not want to take help from support, you will find a ton of resources such as FAQs, Knowledge Base, and blog articles to help solve the issue you are encountering.
User Friendliness: The purchasing experience of A2 Hosting is also seamless and can be completed within a few steps. You will also be provided with a free cPanel account that you can use to manage your own server. All the interfaces are intuitive and easy to use. And in case you need help, the Guru Crew is always there to help.
Pricing: A2Hosting has flexible pricing plans that are targeted toward all types of usage and applications. All the hosting, shared, VPS, and dedicated, are well-priced and are not expensive compared to other providers. Although, you will incur some extra costs if you go for managed services. There is also a hassle-free money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the service. Below are some of the popular pricing plans offered by A2Hosting:
- Runway 1 - $4.59 per month / 1 CPU Cores / 1 GB RAM / 150 GB NVMe Storage
- Lift 16 - $67.99 per month / 16 GB RAM / 450 GB SSD / 8 Cores CPU / 4 TB Bandwidth
- Mach 8 - $59.99 per month / 8 GB RAM / 150 GB SSD / 2 Cores CPU / 2 TB Bandwidth
Reliability: A2Hosting claims itself as an ultra-reliable hosting. The servers are expertly tuned to match usage and performance for all types of applications, including file transfers. The servers are monitored 24/7 for performance issues and other security issues. The network between all the data centers is made redundant with multiple 10 GB/s carriers for data protection in case of the failure of servers in one location. Additionally, A2Hosting is committed to providing 99.99% uptime on all its servers.
Security: You can have a 100% worry-free hosting experience with A2 Hosting, as it provides several layers of security on its servers. Regular security patches, 24/7 physical and technical monitoring of the servers for security vulnerabilities, Viruses, and secures the servers from DDoS attacks. Free SSL certificates are also provided for additional security of your site.
Pros
- Lots of useful features
- Wide range of pricing plan options
- Optimized for all types of applications
Cons
- Expensive when you renew the plans
Hostens is an excellent hosting provider ideal for those who need secure and reliable SFTP hosting. It offers a few different hosting services, a website builder, domains, and security features – basically, everything you’d need for secure web hosting. Also, this provider offers very affordable prices, making it great for beginners on a tighter budget.
- Overall Score: 4.4
- Pricing: 4.6
- Features: 4.3
- Performance: 4.4
- Support: 4.4
- User Friendly: 4.5
Pricing: Hostens’ entry-level shared hosting plan costs $2/month (if you get it for three years) or $4/month (if you get it on a monthly basis). It includes 10GB of storage, 1TB of bandwidth, hosting for 10 websites, and 10 databases.
Features: cPanel, CloudLinux, FileZilla, daily/weekly backups, PHP, Ruby, Python, a free website builder, FTP access, a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate, SSH access, Cloudflare Railgun, free DNS manager, and malware removal are some of the features you’ll get with Hostens.
Performance: This provider offers a 99.95% uptime guarantee. It uses Apache web servers, ECC REG RAM, SSD RAID storage, and enterprise-grade Intel Xeon processors to provide stable and reliable performance. Also, it has data centers in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Support: You’ll get round-the-clock support via live chat, a ticketing system, and email with Hostens. Also, the provider has an informative knowledge base that contains many different tutorials and guides.
User Friendly: Hostens is incredibly easy to use and comes with a simple website builder and cPanel, which is one of the most popular control panels on the market. Also, it has an “Installatron” tool that allows you to install and manage over 100 scripts and CMS’ with a few clicks.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- 30-day money-back guarantee on all Hostens hosting plans.
- Easy-to-use features and services that are ideal for beginners.
- Affordable prices and great value for money.
Cons:
- Too simple for more advanced users (but still offers everything needed for hosting a website).
Interserver is an economical and flexible provider with high-end hardware that is performance optimized. It offers some of the best self-managed VPS servers for SFTP hosting that are also very secure. If you are a medium-sized business and have manpower who can manage the server for you, Interserver will be the best option for you. With a reputation of being a secure and reliable provider of cloud servers, Interserver also lets you build your own server by simply choosing the hardware. The setup is very easy, and your server can be online within an hour.
- Overall Score: 4.7
- Features: 4.8
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendliness: 4.9
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 4.6
Features: Interserver offers great flexibility in servers and their features. Some key features include SSH and SFTP access, full control of your server, Unlimited bandwidth, lightning-fast loading speed, dedicated resources for VPS servers, self-healing hardware, better collaboration for team members, KVM / Openvz / Virtuozzo / Hyper-v virtualization platforms, remote backup service, optimized for databases, free website migration, and more.
Support: Interserver had one of the fastest response times for any query on our tests. The support is available 24/7/365 and offers multiple ways of contact. Phone calls, emails, Live chat, Facebook chat, and ticket support can be used to contact the support and you can expect your issue to be resolved as fast as possible.
User Friendliness: Using Interserver is also very easy. You will get your own control panel, i.e., DirectAdmin / cPanel / Plesk, to manage your intuitive and minimal servers. Even if you are a first-time user, you will have no problem finding the things you like on the control panels. You can opt for any of the three control panels and have a user-friendly experience.
Pricing: The pricing plans offered by Interserver are also of a wide range. If you go for the managed VPS servers, which are very suitable for SFTP hosting, you can choose the hardware yourself and build your own VPS. Although it does not offer any trial period, it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you dislike the service. Some of the best pricing plans offered by Interserver are:
- $6 per month - 1 Core CPU / 1 TB SSD / 2048 RAM / 2 TB Bandwidth
- $12 per month - 2 Core CPU / 2 TB SSD / 4096 RAM / 4 TB Bandwidth
- $18 per month – 3 Core CPU / 3 TB SSD / 6144 RAM / 6 TB Bandwidth
Reliability: During our research on Interserver, we found most of the users find the servers offered by Interserver reliable. The servers are optimized for performance and speed, which makes sense if you are looking for SFTP or database hosting. Interserver also claims its servers have 99.9% uptime, making it very reliable hardware to host your assets.
Security: With KVM, Openvz, Virtuozzo, and Hyper-v virtualization, which is considered a best security practice in VPS, you can expect tight security around the servers. Also, the provider ensures dedicated resources to all VPS servers where other servers’ workloads would not affect your server’s performance. Free SSL certificates, 24/7 monitoring, and regular scanning of incoming and outgoing traffic also protect the servers from any attacks and malware.
Pros
- High-end security
- Can build your own VPS server
- Fully managed service
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Does not have a lot of pre-set plans
- It can be a bit expensive when renewing
With FastComet’s SSD-only SFTP hosting, you’ll receive super-fast load speeds and reliable performance. The provider also offers global CDN access, making your website even faster, which is great for SEO and overall customer satisfaction. It is one of the best web hosting providers on the market and has services and features for hosting all kinds of sites and projects.
- Overall Score: 4.8
- Pricing: 4.7
- Features: 4.8
- Performance: 4.8
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendly: 4.8
Pricing: FastComet’s shared hosting plans are the lowest web hosting service you can buy. The entry-level shared hosting plan costs $2.19/month and includes hosting for one website, 15GB SSD storage, DDoS protection, a 45-day money-back guarantee, and many free features.
Features: Free SSL certificate, free Cloudflare CDN, daily backups, Imunify360, DDoS protection, cPanel, Softaculous, unlimited email accounts, unlimited databases, FTP & SSH access, a free website transfer, a WordPress toolkit, a “Getting Started” toolkit, and development tools are some of the features included in all FastComet shared hosting plans.
Performance: FastComet uses fast-paced NVMe storage to provide fast loading speeds and performance. It offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a 100% transparency guarantee and has 11 data centers located across North America, Asia & Oceania, and Europe.
Support: This provider comes with 24/7 customer support via email, live chat, and phone and 15-minute response times. You can also submit a ticket if you have issues or questions and use its knowledge base to find tutorials.
User Friendly: FastComet gives you access to the Softaculous 1-click app installer, allowing you to install and manage apps with a few clicks. Also, it uses cPanel as the default control panel on all its plans.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Reliable customer support with super-fast responses.
- Top-notch security.
- Feature-packed hosting plans with many freebies.
Cons:
- The regular prices are higher (but still more than worth the money).
Looking for a reliable SFTP hosting provider but can’t find one with a data center near you? Well, you might want to check out Verpex. This provider has data centers in 12 locations worldwide, including Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and Australia. So, with Verpex, you’ll surely find a data center near you and get optimized performance for your site.
- Overall Score: 4.9
- Pricing: 4.8
- Features: 4.8
- Performance: 4.9
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendly: 4.9
Pricing: Verpex offers three shared hosting plans which you can get on a monthly, annual, or triannual basis. The cheapest Verpex plan costs $3.60/month and includes hosting for one website, unlimited bandwidth, 30GB NVMe storage, one vCPU core, and a few free services and features.
Features: Free domain registration/transfer, free SSL certificates, free migrations, daily backups, LiteSpeed web server, cPanel, unlimited email accounts, multiple PHP version support, malware protection, Softaculous, Jetbackup, Imunify360, SitePad Sitebuilder, FTP & SFTP on all plans, and more.
Performance: You can choose among 12 worldwide locations with Verpex and use the one closest to you for optimal performance. You’ll also get a 99.99% uptime guarantee and 2.5s load times.
Support: Verpex offers 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, email, and a ticketing system. It also has a vast knowledge base where you can find many articles, guides, and tutorials.
User Friendly: The combination of WHM and cPanel that you’ll get from Verpex allows you to easily host multiple clients from one account. Via your cPanel dashboard, you can also manage your hosting services, add apps, and monitor everything.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- 45-day money-back guarantee on all Verpex plans.
- Many free features and services are included in the plans.
- Easy-to-use control panel, 1-click Softaculous installer, and many more beginner-friendly features.
Cons:
- Slightly higher prices upon renewal.
HostGator offers top-notch SFTP hosting on all its plans, except for its WordPress and shared hosting. So, you can get SFTP hosting via its VPS and dedicated hosting services. Not only will you get top-notch SFTP hosting with HostGator, but you’ll also get affordable prices, full control over your hosting plan, and excellent performance.
- Overall Score: 3.7
- Pricing: 3.8
- Features: 3.8
- Performance: 3.7
- Support: 3.6
- User Friendly: 3.8
Pricing: With HostGator’s entry-level VPS hosting plan, you’ll get 2GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, 120GB SSD storage, and unmetered bandwidth for $23.95/month. All of HostGator’s VPS plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Features: HostGator offers full root access on all its VPS hosting plans, unlimited domains, unlimited email addresses, unlimited FTP accounts, SFTP & SSH access, off-site weekly backups, cPanel/WHM, CentOS 7, Softaculous, a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate and more.
Performance: HostGator uses enterprise-grade hardware in all of its data centers, including Intel and AMD processors and bandwidth providers such as AboveNet, AT&T, Comcast, Global Crossing, Level (3), and NTT. It also offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and fast loading speeds.
Support: With HostGator, you’ll get round-the-clock customer support via phone, live chat, and Twitter. There’s also a knowledge base you can use to find tutorials and guides, as well as a blog that contains all kinds of valuable information.
User Friendly: You can choose cPanel as your control panel with HostGator. You’ll also get the Softaculous 1-click installer that allows you to install and manage apps with a few simple clicks. In addition, you’ll get management tools that’ll make managing your site and hosting plan a breeze.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- An intuitive website builder and many easy-to-use services.
- All VPS hosting plans come with unmetered bandwidth and emails.
- You’ll get full root access and advanced functionality.
Cons:
- Not all hosting services are suitable for SFTP hosting (but both the VPS and dedicated plans are).
Bluehost is an old player in the Hosting business, offering experience and reliability. Bluehost’s pricing plans are very stable and do not change often. When you opt for a plan with Bluehost, you will also be able to lock your prices until the subscription expires, giving you a better idea of your hosting expenses. Responsive support, easy to use dashboard and reliable performance are just a few of the qualities of this hosting provider.
- Overall Score: 4.4
- Features: 4.5
- Support: 4.6
- User Friendliness: 4.7
- Pricing: 4.4
- Reliability: 4.5
Features: Bluehost has a number of useful features that come with its servers. Some of the key ones include SSH and SFTP with root access to the server, SSD storage for faster data transfers, free IP address, cPanel and WHM control panels, multi-server management from one single place, elaborate access control on your hosting accounts and servers, unlimited FTP accounts, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited website hosting, and more.
Support: The support offered by Bluehost is very responsive, and issue resolution is made within an hour. The support can be contacted via phone call, email, Live chat, or the ticket support system, which can be accessed from the user dashboard. You can also access the blogs, Knowledge Base, and FAQs on their site for solving minor issues without contacting the support.
User Friendliness: Bluehost offers a very simple yet efficient and minimal user dashboard to monitor the performance of your server along with managing the server resources. Also, you will have access to the cPanel, which is a popular management tool for servers. All the interfaces are very easy, and even a new user will get familiar with them within a few usages.
Pricing: When it comes to pricing, Bluehost offers limited plans for VPS servers, however the plans are well designed to meet the demands of most users. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are dissatisfied. Some of the popular plans offered by Bluehost are:
- Standard - $19.99 per month / 2 CPU cores / 30 GB SSD Storage / 2 GB RAM / 1 TB Bandwidth
- Enhanced - $29.99 per month / 2 CPU cores / 60 GB SSD Storage / 4 GB RAM / 2 TB Bandwidth
- Ultimate - $59.99 per month / 4 CPU cores / 120 GB SSD Storage / 8 GB RAM / 3 TB Bandwidth
Reliability: Bluehost has a lot of regular users that are very satisfied with the service that Bluehost offers. Multiple businesses and firms also use Bluehost and deem its servers as reliable. Additionally, Bluehost claims its servers have 99.9% uptime.
Security: The security features offered by Bluehost for its servers are Free SSL certificates, free CDN, automated security updates, backup data protection, expert consultation for better security optimization, and more.
Pros
- User-friendly dashboard
- Epic support for new and old users alike
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Renews at the same rate
Cons
- Limited plans offered
Ranking comparison between the Top Providers
Final Recommendations
Our ranking shows that Kamatera offers the overall best SFTP hosting service among the dozens of service providers we tested on. They keep the plans affordable, provide epic support, and give you the ability to build VPS by choosing the hardware. The hardware offered by Kamatera is also high-end and equipped with multiple security features. We recommend using Kamatera for your SFTP hosting for a better overall experience.
However, all the 8 providers on this list are worthy of your choice. So, even if you choose any provider other than Kamatera, you will still be getting a good deal. Whichever provider you choose, check for their core features before proceeding.
How Do We Rank, And How Should You Choose Your SFTP Hosting?
- User reviews30%
- Performance and reliability10%
- Types of hosting servers offered5%
- Customer support10%
- Site speed8%
- Bandwidth and storage3%
- Traffic volume4%
- Security4%
- Features included10%
The above metrics are the detailed version of our core ranking factors, i.e., features, support, user-friendliness, pricing, and reliability. The user reviews, performance and reliability, and support are the main metrics that have more effect on our ranking of ours. All the other metrics have a somewhat smaller impact on the rankings, which is by design. Since the ranking is for SFTP hosting which requires excellent security, we added Security as a sixth metric just to measure how secure each hosting provider is.
Key Considerations When Choosing SFTP Hosting:
Ask yourself the following questions when choosing an SFTP hosting as all the points included above have a greater impact on your own experiences with the provider. Choose wisely and start setting up the server for file transfers.
- Does the hosting provider have high-end security measures in place to protect the servers?
- Does the provider (and their plans) have positive user reviews?
- How easy is it to use the interface of the dashboard or control panel?
- Is adequate support provided for the users when needed?
- Are the prices reasonable for the hardware that comes with it?
What Is SFTP Hosting? And Who Needs It?
SFTP (secure file transfer protocol) is a protocol to transfer files and data over a network. Most of the time, a client-server or a server-server file transfer is done using SFTP. An SFTP hosting is a server that facilitates this transfer by allowing storage, processing, and bandwidth.
SFTP hosting is mostly used by businesses, organizations, or individuals to transfer files to and from other sources. Large businesses such as banks, companies, and governments use this type of server to transfer sensitive data with high-end security.
So, if you are also looking for such servers for your own business or personal use, you will need to set up an SFTP server before transferring files. You can choose any of the hosting providers we have ranked in this article for secure and seamless file transfer servers.